Baby H: Week 14

There have been moments this week where I almost forget that I'm pregnant thanks to the lack of symptoms and return of my energy back to a somewhat normal state. I sometimes feel guilty that I had a grand total of about 10 days of nausea and otherwise very mild symptoms throughout the last 14 weeks. But then I assume this only means our next babe won't be so nice so I take the cards I've been dealt this time around and run.

The only things I've been dealing with have been a hunger-pit that I can't seem to fill and a bit of round ligament pain on my right side. Throw in a few dizzy spells thanks to my uber-low blood pressure (measured at 90/52 at my doctors appointment last week) and laying on my stomach starting to be uncomfortable and that completes the list this week. I've scheduled an appointment for some OMT on my round ligament for next week and have been trying my best to snack and drink water constantly to help with the rest.

I've yet to venture into maternity clothes (minus a few Target tanks from the clearance rack) and I hope to stay away from them as long as possible. It would really help if the weather would cooperate and stay nice for more than just one day so I could keep out skirts and dresses so I didn't have to button pants anymore. I did however get my first pair of maternity jean shorts in the mail from Zulily, ordered because I'll definitely be needing those in a few months, and I can already tell they are going to be heaven. Hello stretchy waist-bands! However on the other side of waist-bands are my favorite pair of Athleta workout leggings that have been officially retired. I wore them to school one day this week and no matter if I pulled them up over my belly or wore them really low with a tank pulled way down I was just uncomfortable and it definitely wasn't worth it.

In terms of baby, J and I both have our "wishes" for what the gender of the little one is and I have a serious hunch that hasn't changed since that first week. For now though I'm keeping my mouth shut because I hate being wrong. We're still in the deciding-stage as to whether we'll find out (J wants to know, I don't) but our anatomy scan is scheduled a few days before Mother's day which means that if we decide to know it'll be the perfect opportunity to share the news with our families. It's crazy to me that the baby in my belly, only the size of a jalapeño, has finger prints, vocal cords, visible heart chambers and is already wiggling around in there even though I can't feel it. I'll tell you what, this journey sure is something else.

Five on Friday v4

Today I'm linking up with Christina from Carolina Charm for "Five on Friday" 

Check out the link up below.

[one] I still can't believe how different our little babe was at our 12-week ultrasound compared to our first at 8-weeks. We choose to do the optional u/s at 12w to do chromosomal testing and I'm so glad we did for no other reason than a chance to peak. Our next u/s won't be until the 20-week full anatomy scan and I couldn't imagine going four months between ultrasounds. It's amazing what technology can do and makes me love this little one that much more.

[two] J is headed to the mountains this afternoon for a mini bachelor party with some of his guy friends. They're headed to happy hour and then for an evening of gambling and as much as I'll miss him tonight I'm happy he has a night out to have some fun. I'm sure life with a pregnant, medical student as your wife can get pretty lonely and I'm grateful he has some fun ahead of him this weekend.

[three] There's another student in my class who's pregnant right now too. She's a bit older than I am and this pregnancy isn't her first which means she brought me some fabulous maternity tops that she no longer fits in. She came up to me after class one day with a goodie bag and said "I was your size with my first and can't wear these anymore" and I am so thankful for her generosity. The tops are nice and flowy and I know they'll be perfect with my new linen pants for cooler evenings this summer. 

[four] Our silly O-dog has a horribly bad habit and I don't know how to break it. He's been going into the yard in the evenings and eating his own poo. Seriously, gag me! We both hate that he does it but aren't sure how to break him of it. We want him to be able to enjoy spending time in the yard just being a dog without us having to watch him all the time. But if we aren't watching him and catching him in the act I don't know how he'll learn not to do it. Has anyone else's dogs done this before? Help?!

[five] This week at school was a nightmare. Super long days filled with lectures, labs that don't always go so well and are just stressful, an exam I didn't have much time to study for, standardized patient encounters with unknown cases and so much neuro I need to catch up on before the exam on Monday. I knew this part of the year was going to be the toughest but man, maybe it's because I'm always tired thanks to growing a human but this is rough man. 3 more weeks until neuro and labs are done and 11 more weeks until summer vacation. It can't come soon enough. 

Happy Friday everyone. Here's to a weekend filled with studying and naps to stay alive. 

Baby H: Week 13

I am currently 13w3d so this post is a few days late thanks to all the catching up I've been doing. 

Weekly updates will happen on Mondays from here on out as that's when my weeks change.

J and I made a decision early on in this pregnancy that we would wait until I was out of the first trimester before we made it public knoweldge that a babe was on the way. Fear is a crazy emotion and it doesn't help that I've spent so much of the last year learning about all the things that could go wrong which sends my mind into a tail-spin if I allow it. But I'm coming to realize there is no such thing as jinxing yourself into bad news. And while there was never any doubt in my mind that I wanted to wait, I would be lying if I tried to say there weren't moments when I just wanted to TELL EVERYONE RIGHT NOW because I was so excited. Thankfully there were a handful of people who have known for a few weeks so that's made the burden a little less but now the words out and I couldn't be happier.

This week has been great pregnancy wise (talk to me about med school and I'd have a different answer). I have been feeling great, haven't been overly tired which is always a plus and have been eating like a teenage-boy. My cheese craving seems to be subsiding and nothing's really popped into its place as of now. I'm currently in a phase where just the mention of a food that sounds good will have me drooling over it until I get my hands on it. Thankfully however I haven't had any changes in my weight for the last 2 or 3 weeks making me feel much better about my progress in this arena.

The baby bump is starting to show up for sure now although it's far from the "she's definitely pregnant" stage that unknowing people will be able to recognize. I finally gave in and bought a Be Band from Target that's been allowing me to unbutton some pants and help others just stay up. I wish I could say that I've made the transition back to the gym on a regular basis but that would be a big fat lie. Walks with O-dog and J in the evenings a few times a week have been all I've had time for which is unrelated to the babe in my belly.

Overall it was a great week and got even better after a successful doctors appointment with an ultrasound. Being able to peak in there and see how much has changed in a month is just amazing. I don't think I'll ever stop loving that. Babe was being feisty and wouldn't give us a profile shot for a good 20 minutes even with poking and prodding. A little extra wiggling finally flipped the nugget though and was followed by arms covering the face, mouth opening and plenty of sweet movement from our little one. Heart beat measured at 157 and we're thrilled to be another week into the journey.

Keep growing little one!

Baby H: Starting Our Family

J and I had a conversation this past summer about our little family and the idea of it growing someday. We've both known all along that kids were in our future but unfortunately my dreams of medical school, residency and becoming a physician put in a few extra kinks that needed to be worked out making the process of deciding when not so simple.

So last summer we had two options to consider in terms of when to grow our family... during or after medical school. It wasn't too difficult to come to the decision that we didn't want to wait until school (and everything else that's to come) was over which narrowed it down to sometime in the next 4-ish years. At the time, the demands of school were all just hypothetical since I hadn't actually started classes yet so we agreed to test the waters for a bit and see how we adjusted.

Well school started and was everything I had hoped it wouldn't be in terms of stress, time demands, lack of free time, etc etc. It was the, "Hello medical school, here, take my life away" type of moment. After a few months I felt like I was finding my groove and started thinking about our family again. But I was almost 100% sure there was no way J was on board for it anymore. I was dying to know his opinion but honestly, I avoided the conversation because I didn't want to hear, "no, not right now".

Months went by and there was no conversation about it. Until Christmas. It was Christmas Eve, combine the festive spirit with both of us having a bit or a lot to drink and we ended up talking babies and how we wanted to start growing our family. I was in seventh heaven! But I was worried that it wasn't real, to be honest, worried that we had had too many drinks to even remember the entirety of the conversation the next morning (romantic, right? Ha!). But low and behold, it wasn't just a dream or a drunken conversation.

We agreed that there was no time like the present and that things seemed much more manageable than they did just a few months before. We talked about how some people try to get everything in order before trying to get pregnant but that there's never a perfect opportunity for it. If you wait until everything is perfect, you'll be waiting your entire life. So we decided to welcome the idea of a pregnancy and a baby with open arms.

And as life would have it, we found out we were expecting on January 17th, 2014.

I'm sure you can all do the math but that means that I got pregnant within the first month of us trying. I realize that there are many women who would give anything just to be pregnant, let alone so quickly, and for that I am both sorry to be telling our story to them and also thankful for the luck we had. No matter the time line, thankful doesn't even begin to describe our feelings towards this pregnancy and baby.

Regardless of how quickly things happened for us, the two weeks of waiting to see if there was a bun in our oven seemed to draggggg on! I bounced between moments where I was sure I was pregnant (most of these moments were when I was starving) and moments when I convinced myself there was no way it was that easy. For some unknown reason I had always assumed it would be hard for me to get pregnant so I almost didn't want to believe in the possibility too much so that I wouldn't be let down if I wasn't yet.

Because J and I are both planners, we were aware of my body's timing and aware of when we would know if our efforts had worked. I had been tracking my cycles for months, ever since getting off birth control last summer so there wasn't any mystery behind when to test, etc. Because of this I didn't get to do a sweet surprise, a hidden onesie or a baby-themed dinner for J to tell him the news because we tested together. And to be honest, I'm so glad we shared that moment together. That early morning plus sign is a moment I'll hold close to my heart forever.

Both my estimate as well as our first doctors appointment put Baby H's due date as September 29, 2014 and just thinking about that date still makes my heart flutter. J and I are thrilled to be on this journey together and can't wait for the fall to quickly arrive! 

Photo taken at 8w3d
with a heartbeat of 180 and even some little limb bud wiggles

We can't wait to meet you sweet thing. 

Grow strong in there and know mom and dad love you more than you'll ever know!

100 Days of Happiness pt 1

In the midst of all that's been happening lately 

[being half a year down in med school, having a babe growing in my belly, the weather starting to turn around, etc etc]

I decided to jump into a new project. 

Enter the 100 Happy Days project. 

I've been snapping a picture of something that's made me happy every day and plan on continuing to do so for a total of 100 consecutive days. My original plan was to Instagram the photos but that's just proven to be too difficult (especially when out of the country for spring break and while keeping a HUGE secrete for a few months). So instead I'm just blogging the pictures in parts. 

I started randomly on February 9th which means my last day will be May 20th. 

Who knows, maybe I'll decide to keep it up for 200 days but I'm not making any promises yet. 

For now, here's days 1-16.